Doctor charged in liquor dispute

Prosecutors in northern China have accused a doctor of damaging the reputation of a pharmaceutical company by posting false information online.

The reputation of a pharmaceutical liquor made by Hongmao Pharmaceutical - which the company says is good for health - had been harmed, according to a statement on Sunday from police in Liangcheng county, Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Distributors are demanding refunds, resulting in heavy economic losses for the company, the police said.

The company complained to authorities in December that online information calling the liquor a poison was false, and a case was filed on Jan 2. Police found that an article headlined "Chinese magic pharmaceutical liquor is a toxic substance from heaven", written by Tan Qindong, had been widely spread online.

Liangcheng police detained Tan on Jan 10 based on what they said was clear evidence, and prosecutors issued an arrest warrant on Jan 25.

A police document quoted by Red Star News, an online media portal for Chengdu Economic Daily, said the company claimed to have suffered losses of about 1.42 million yuan ($223,000) because of the article, which led two pharmaceutical distributors and seven individual customers to return the liquor and ask for refunds.

According to Red Star News, Tan, 39, lives in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and holds a master's degree in anesthesiology from Central South University in Changsha, Hunan province. He has a license to practice medicine and was an anesthesiologist at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University.